Thursday, 13 April 2017

Sorting out Old Oak and Park Royal regeneration - lessons for Wembley?

Vision...

... and reality (Schedule of Board meetings)

The Brent and Kilburn Times has an interesting front page story today on the multi-million Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) plan. London Mayor Sadiq Khan following a review of the project which criticised former Mayor Boris Johnson for rushing into an agreement withe the government on unfavourable terms and leaving the project 'in a mess', has appointed a new chair, Liz Peace, former CEO of the British Property Federation.

Presumably sorting out the mess may also involve sorting out the OPDC Board which should have been scrutinising the project along with GLA members. Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, is a member of the Board.

These are the Board's functions:

The OPDC Board is responsible for governing the OPDC. Their responsibilities include:

providing leadership, advice and support

setting strategic direction and overall policy

monitoring standards, performance and corporate governance

representing the OPDC with other stakeholders

Cllr Sarah Marquis is a member of the Board's Planning Committee.

What I found particularly interesting, after the controversy over Quintain's high rise developments around Wembley Stadium and elsewhere in Brent, was Navin Shah AM's statement in the Kilburn Times article that he was concerned about the number of 'excessively tall buildings' planned for Old Oak/Park Royal.

Clearly he has a role as GLA member for Brent and Harrow to scrutinise a Mayoral project but it seems odd that he has been silent on the high rise developments in Wembley, including the 26 storey 'Twin Towers' at the junction of Wembley High Road and Park Lane. In his statement to the Kilburn Times he also spoke about engagement with local residents and businesses, something that was sadly lacking in the recent Wembley Stadium/Spurs planning application:

Old Oak Common and Park Royal don't need 'mini Manhattan' like glass and steel towers. The development corporation must actively and genuinely engage at all stages with local residents, businesses and stakeholders to ensure their aspirations are taken into account.

Nor do we and yes, Brent Council must.

The OPDC is holding a consultation on Regulation 19 of the draft Local Plan on Wednesday 26th April at 7pm, at the CoClub, 140 Wakles Far, Road, London W3 6UG

The OPDC say:

The
nature of the next stage of consultations is very different to last year
Regulation 18 draft Local Plan, so we’re holding an event to go through the
differences. This will enable you to have your say in the future of Old Oak and
Park Royal once the consultation is launched.

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